Whaley/Democrat photo
Spaulding’s Quinn Connelly, center, drives for two points between two Winnacunnet players, including Alec Boucher (5), during Division I action Tuesday in Rochester.

ROCHESTER — The last time the Spaulding High School boys basketball team played Winnacunnet, the Warriors rained in some early 3-pointers en route to an 11-point win at the Bobcat Invitational in Durham last month.

Winnacunnet rained in some more 3-pointers Tuesday in Rochester, but the Red Raiders were ready for the Warriors with some better defense, contributions off the bench and a strong second-half.

Senior Nick MacGregor scored 15 of his game-high 19 points in the second half and Spaulding (6-1) used several key runs to beat the Warriors in Division I action, 71-61.

There were two key junctures in the game. The first came in the third quarter when the Red Raiders went on a 12-0 run to turn a 39-36 deficit at 5:24 into a 48-39 lead at 2:14.

Winnacunnet went 0 for 6 from the field with two turnovers during that stretch.

Sophomore forward Anthony Ciccotelli, who scored eight points off the bench, started and ended the Red Raider run with inside buckets, including a nifty eight-foot baby hook that put Spaulding up nine.

“I didn’t know how far out it was,” Ciccotelli said. “I thought I was in closer. It went in, so we got what we got.”

Winnacunnet cut the lead to seven after three stops (53-46) and whittled it to five to start the fourth quarter when Alec Boucher stole the ball and scored on a reverse layup to cut the lead to 53-48.

“They cracked it open, made some shots and took care of the basketball,” said Winnacunnet coach Jay McKenna. “We were looking at the stats and that was the stretch. When we played them in the Christmas tournament, I think that’s when we were able to get the lead and hold onto it. They played well tonight. They took care of it when they needed to and made shots when they needed to.”

Enter key juncture No. 2.

Quinn Connelly drove for a deuce, Ciccotelli fed Darian Berry for a bucket and MacGregor drained a 3-pointer from the corner near his team bench to make it a 60-48 lead, forcing a Winnacunnet timeout at 6:14.

“I thought we can’t let them get back in it,” MacGregor said. “We need to finish them here and now and that was really set in my mind when I took that shot.”

That surge started a 16-6 run that widened the margin to 69-54 with 3:31 to play on Berry’s trey.

Dominic Paradis joined MacGregor in double figures with 13 points, 10 coming in the first half. Ciccotelli added eight, while Berry and Seth Fogg chipped in with seven.

Ciccotelli and Berry’s play off the bench was instrumental in the win, countering a foul-plagued night for Charlie Nevejans and an off-night from Paradis, who was well defended by the Warriors.

“The defense picked up and that was the key,” Spaulding coach Tim Cronin said. “We scored off our defense. We had some pressure on them. This is how we have to win. This is not a one-man team. We need contributions from all these other players. It’s important for our bench to come through for us and they did.”

Ryan Gigliotti led the Warriors (4-3) with 13 points, while Matt Guerin added 10 and Pat Lamprey tossed in nine. Winnacunnet buried eight 3-pointers, the same number they hit when they beat Spaulding last month. The Red Raiders hit seven.

It was a nip-and-tuck first half, which Spaulding was able to take a lead into the locker room on a Paradis 3-pointer with 11 seconds to play.

Winnacunnet took its first lead of the second half at 6:58 of the third on a Gigliotti trey to make it 31-30 and its last lead at 5:34 when Lamprey hit a 3 to keep a 39-36 edge.

Then the Red Raiders went on their run to go ahead for good.

“We had to come out with more energy,” MacGregor added. “Determination kind of set in and a sense of urgency, and I knew that I had to bring energy into the game and get myself going.”